Boom Box: Matt Snow of Scissormen

1:12 PM, Feb 23, 2011

Nashville duo Ted Drozdowski and Matt Snow, aka Scissormen, are bringing their down-and-dirty, amped-up country blues to town for two shows this week. Here's what Snow has been listening to in order to get ready.

Sonny Sharrock

Ask the Ages (Axiom Records, 1991)

Sonny was a guitar player out of New York doing jazz/rock fusion like no one else ever had. Ask the Ages was the last record he ever released—unfortunately he passed a few years after it came out. The melodies and improv on the record are so beautifully executed; it's a very cerebral and patient record. Lots of dense playing to digest. A very rewarding and excellent listen. Also, Elvin Jones absolutely slays.

Son House

The Original Delta Blues (Sony, 1998)

I've only recently gotten into Son House, but man, am I glad I have been able to really dive into his catalog. His collection on Original Delta Blues is brutal. This dude taught Robert Johnson how to play, never mind Satan. His vocal performances, particularly on "John the Revelator," come straight from hell and are some of the scariest, most honest interpretations of early blues that have ever existed.

Peter Parcek

The Mathematics of Love (Vizzitone, 2010)

Peter Parcek is a guitar player out of Boston who I've come to know about only within the last two years. I've been spinning his most recent release, The Mathematics of Love, ever since it came out last May. Peter is an incredible player, a superior talent on the instrument. He has breathed new life into the blues genre, injecting new sounds and fresh, ferocious licks into a relatively stagnant idiom.